Einstein and the Rabbi: Searching for the Soul

by Naomi Levy Narrated by Naomi Levy

Overview

A bestselling author and rabbi's profoundly affecting exploration of the meaning and purpose of the soul, inspired by the famous correspondence between Albert Einstein and a grieving rabbi.

“A human being is part of the whole, called by us `Universe,' a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts, and feelings as something separate from the rest-a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness...” -Albert Einstein

When Rabbi Naomi Levy came across this poignant letter by Einstein it shook her to her core. His words perfectly captured what she has come to believe about the human condition: That we are intimately connected, and that we are blind to this truth. Levy wondered what had elicited such spiritual wisdom from a man of science? Thus began a three-year search into the mystery of Einstein's letter, and into the mystery of the human soul. What emerges is an inspiring, deeply affecting audiobook for people of all faiths filled with universal truths that will help us reclaim our own souls and glimpse the unity that has been evading us. We all long to see more expansively, to live up to our gifts, to understand why we are here. In Eintstein and the Rabbi, Levy leads us on a breathtaking journey full of wisdom, empathy and humor, challenging us to wake up and heed the voice calling from within-a voice beckoning us to become who we were born be.

This program is read by the author.

"It would be hard to find a more upbeat, moving, and loving narrative than this... Speaking with a slight Brooklyn accent, she tells listeners that she views life as a tremendous opportunity for love, healing, and insight." - AudioFile Magazine

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

07/10/2017
Levy (To Begin Again), a rabbi and founder of Nashuva, a Jewish spiritual community in Los Angeles, uses an engaging framing device to begin this inquiry into the soul: her experience of reading a letter from Albert Einstein to Rabbi Robert Marcus, a chaplain who had been present at the liberation of Buchenwald and who had recently lost a child. The legendary scientist wrote that peace of mind could be achieved by overcoming the delusion that people are separate from the rest of the universe. That letter led Levy “on a journey that would deepen understanding of the soul and eternity” as she searched for the letter Marcus had written to Einstein that had prompted the physicist’s response. That pursuit eventually paid off, but some readers won’t follow Levy’s quest to the end. The intervening sections features advice that will strike many as platitudinous; for example, her five tools to help someone move from potential to action are praying, talking to others, being honest, listening and seeing, and feeling the pain. There are some genuinely moving sections, but too often Levy’s rose-colored vision comes across as too good to be true. Readers who are fans of Chicken Soup for the Jewish Soul are most likely to find this volume of use. (Sept.)

From the Publisher

Drawing on poignant personal stories, Jewish life and traditions, and a spiritual letter from Einstein to a grieving father, Naomi Levy’s book outlines an inspiring guide on how to live a meaningful and connected life.” —Alan Lightman, author of Einstein’s Dreams

“Rabbi Naomi Levy shares her loving spirit, her inspirational stories of Einstein and the rabbi whose grief he sought to assuage, and her lessons on hearing the voice of your soul. This remarkable book spoke to me as I am sure it will speak to you.” —Susan Cain, author of Quiet

“It is the task of the rabbi to articulate the wisdom and power of the Jewish religion in all its profundity, mystery, and earthy relevance. Naomi Levy performs the task spectacularly; she speaks from deep within the Jewish soul and gives the spiritual gifts of Judaism not only to Jews but to the world at large. It is difficult to overestimate her contribution. Einstein and the Rabbi is worthy of the matriarchs from whom originated the blessing of Jewish womanhood and who continue, through such as her, to bless it still." —Marianne Williamson, author of A Return to Love and Everyday Grace

“[Levy] is a gifted storyteller—courageous, daring, witty and wise…. She brings not only eloquence and wisdom but also a wry sense of humor and the deepest compassion to her writing. Yet [Einstein and the Rabbi] achieves something even more exalted, an intimate revelation that rings with courage and authenticity. The reader surely will come away from Levy’s latest book with that sense of spiritual fullness she seeks to impart in everything she does.” —Jewish Journal

“[Levy's] wisdom and openness and wondrous spirit ripple through the pages of her engaging new book.” —The Jerusalem Post

"Engaging...genuinely moving." —Publishers Weekly

“Everyone needs to read this book. It is a book for the times we live in now...capturing the human spirit through historic journeys, present-day gestures of kindness, and understanding. Naomi Levy writes with a clear, easy style that allows us to fall into her narrative, bearing witness to the soul life.” —Julianna Margulies, actor/producer

“With keen insight, an open heart, and the graceful, accessible wisdom for which she is widely known, Rabbi Naomi Levy has written a book that will be a balm and a provocation for all who read it. It made me cry. It made me think. To read it is to be gently guided into a deeper place.” —Dani Shapiro, author of Devotion and Hourglass

“Throughout, Levy comes off as a trustworthy guide, with just the right leavening (or perhaps unleavening) of humor and endless compassion.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Spiritual seekers of any faith should find guidance and comfort in these intricately woven stories of love, loss, suffering, and success.” —Library Journal

"Part candid and moving memoir, part accounting of an inspiring spiritual quest. This unusual volume is also a page-turner." —Wendy Mogel, Ph.D., author of The Blessing of a Skinned Knee

"Do not miss this unique work combining wisdom, inspiration, a mystery about the world's greatest scientist, and a modern search for the soul. The combination will enchant your mind and make your spirit sing." —Rabbi David Wolpe, author of David: The Divided Heart and Making Loss Matter: Creating Meaning in Difficult Times

"Naomi Levy examines life's polarities: birth and death, love and loss, faith and doubt. With keen insight, she shows how each duality is connected by the vital force we call 'the soul.' This is a lovely, tender book that will illuminate and inspire." —Jerome Groopman, Recanati Professor at Harvard University and author of The Anatomy of Hope

“Naomi Levy writes from my heart. She brings together my Judaism and my social science and my current spiritual path of love.” —Ram Dass

“Read about Naomi Levy's spiritual journey at the risk of having her take you deeper into yourself. Einstein and the Rabbi takes you on the journey of journeys.” —Norman Lear

“What is the soul?’ This question has been on the tips of the tongues of seekers, saints and prophets from the beginning of time. ‘Are there words to describe the ineffable?’ This question has been on the tips of the pens of poets across the ages and the continents. Rabbi Naomi Levy takes on these questions in Einstein and the Rabbi, and she does so with humility, mastery, and poetry in a book that reads like mystery novel. I couldn’t put it down.” —Elizabeth Lesser, author of Broken Open and Marrow, and cofounder of Omega Institute

"Rabbi Naomi Levy has done something extraordinary. Inspired by one of the most famous letters written by Einstein, she has, through meticulous research uncovered the utterly unexpected background to Einstein’s letter, words written to a saintly rabbi who had just undergone the worst suffering a parent can experience. Naomi Levy, who decades earlier had undergone the worst suffering a child can experience, has united the words of Einstein, the story of Rabbi Robert Marcus, and of herself and her own father in a way that makes us all realize that the soul truly can see what eyes cannot. With Naomi Levy as our guide we too can learn to see with our souls, and thereby bless the lives of those around us and our own lives as well." —Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, author of Jewish Literacy, Rebbe, and Words that Hurt, Words that Heal

"Levy offers us a blessing—which indeed comes true as one travels through her luminous book: 'I am praying that something sacred will happen to you. Something unexpected. A turning. An awakening.' And it does; all of that and more." —Abigail Pogrebin, author of My Jewish Year and Stars of David

“In these bewildering and often implausible times, Naomi Levy’s book provides a vital and necessary antidote. Without stooping to easy remedies or spiritual jargon and drawing on centuries of Jewish thought, Levy shows us a soulful way to navigate a materialist world. Einstein and the Rabbi is a heartwarming and lucid reflection on balancing your life and schooling your heart.” —Daphne Merkin, author of This Close to Happy: A Reckoning with Depression

“A great read both for those who love the science of Einstein and the soul of the Zohar. The history of Einstein’s correspondence with Rabbi Marcus is fascinating and brings together science and soul.” —Alan Dershowitz, author of Taking the Stand: My Life in the Law

“Naomi Levy weaves together a series of stories from her perspective as a rabbi, her personal journey through illness, and a remarkable search for a letter to Einstein that results in describing the indescribable—the nature of our souls.” —Stephen Tobolowsky, actor and author of My Adventures with God and The Dangerous Animals Club

"You will be moved by Levy's ability to weave personal memoir and philosophical discourse so accessibly and emotionally." —Tom Allon, Huffington Post

Library Journal

07/01/2017
Levy is a Los Angeles-based rabbi and founder and spiritual leader of Nachuva, a Jewish spiritual outreach movement, meaning she thinks a lot about the nature of the soul and its role in helping people lead fulfilling lives. The author's inspiration for this work comes from an unlikely source: Albert Einstein. Levy found a letter from Einstein to Rabbi Robert S. Marcus that she felt perfectly described the unity of existence and how our souls are essential to discovering that connection. Levy uses the three layers of the soul found in the Jewish mystical tradition—the life, love, and eternal forces—to structure the contents of this book. Weaving her journey to discovering the letter that prompted Einstein's response, stories of her own vulnerability, and her counseling experiences as a rabbi, Levy demonstrates the interconnectedness of these layers of the soul and how we can work toward understanding this relationship even through difficult times. VERDICT Spiritual seekers of any faith should find guidance and comfort in these intricately woven stories of love, loss, suffering, and success.—Amanda Folk, Ohio State Univ. Libs.

APRIL 2018 - AudioFile

It would be hard to find a more upbeat, moving, and loving narrative than this. Rabbi Levy is the founder of Nashuva, a spiritual outreach movement based in Los Angeles, where she was a pulpit rabbi for seven years. Speaking with a slight Brooklyn accent, she tells listeners that she views life as a tremendous opportunity for love, healing, and insight. Part of her audiobook deals with a letter that Albert Einstein once wrote to a grieving father who was also a rabbi. Most chapters deal with Rabbi Levy’s own experiences with family and with people she has counseled and consoled. She tops off each chapter with a gentle, loving prayer. D.R.W. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

2017-06-13
A rabbi offers a program of soul-craft to get us through the "World of Separation," this reality where nothing quite works and nothing quite makes sense."If the soul is so wise then why do we stop listening to our souls?" That is not the only rhetorical question that LA-based rabbi Levy (Hope Will Find You: My Search for the Wisdom to Stop Waiting and Start Living, 2010, etc.) raises here. Pondering a letter written by Albert Einstein to a rabbi decades earlier, in which the renowned physicist mused about why we humans behave as if we were somehow disconnected from the whole, Levy proceeds to offer common-sensical suggestions to forge links to our better angels—by, for one thing, praying. To skeptical listeners in a class, she posed it as a challenge: "Why not approach it as an experiment? Try waking up and reciting a morning prayer for two weeks and we'll discuss it then." Bingo: logging the hours produces results. "If you long to connect to the divine," she continues, "begin studying, and you will receive timeless wisdom." The author occasionally drifts into the soft precincts of the Sedona set, as when she likens the "California Roll"—what elsewhere is called the "New York stop," drifting through a stop sign without ever quite stopping—as the way most of us rush through religious practice: "There is a tradition to stop and take three steps backwards at the start of the prayer. Why? We imagine our souls leaving this space and entering a holy space. Suddenly we are standing in the very presence of God." For all the cheerful exhortation, there's also serious reckoning with the big picture, with matters of life and death and the travails of daily life. Throughout, Levy comes off as a trustworthy guide, with just the right leavening (or perhaps unleavening) of humor and endless compassion. Like-minded readers will find Levy's blend of Old Testament and New Age appealing.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940171924935
Publisher:	Macmillan Audio
Publication date:	09/05/2017
Edition description:	Unabridged

Videos